Lede
Ethereum has reached a significant milestone in network activity, with active users on the mainnet overtaking major layer-2 scaling solutions. Data indicates that the number of active addresses on the Ethereum network exceeded 791,000 on a recent Monday, marking a substantial increase in direct engagement with the base layer. This growth represents a 71% rise from the 460,000 active accounts recorded approximately one year ago. Alongside the increase in participants, transaction volumes have surged, reaching 2.1 million transactions on the Ethereum blockchain on a single Tuesday.
The rise in activity is accompanied by a dramatic reduction in the costs associated with using the network. On the same Monday that active addresses peaked, average transaction fees were recorded at just $0.15. This pricing level is a sharp contrast to the economic environment of previous years. For instance, the average fee for a transaction on Ethereum was as high as $11 only one year ago. This shift suggests that the long-term development strategies aimed at making the network more accessible and efficient are beginning to yield measurable results in terms of both user adoption and cost-effectiveness for on-chain operations.
Context
The current state of Ethereum’s affordability stands in stark contrast to its historical performance. In the not-so-distant past, transacting on the network was notoriously expensive, particularly during the heights of decentralized finance and non-fungible token activity. Between late 2021 and mid-2022, some users reported gas fees exceeding $200, raising serious concerns regarding the network’s long-term usability for a broad user base. To address these scaling challenges, layer-2 (L2) networks emerged as a primary solution. A notable entry into this space occurred when the Coinbase exchange launched its own L2, known as Base, which opened its mainnet for users in August 2023.
In 2025, Ethereum implemented several technical milestones to enhance its infrastructure. The Pectra upgrade, which occurred in May, focused on increasing the capacity of blobs, a specific tool used for storing transaction data. This was followed by the Fusaka upgrade, which was activated on December 3, 2025. Fusaka further expanded blob capacity and introduced Peer Data Availability Sampling. This mechanism allows validators to verify transactions using small samples rather than downloading entire blobs, thereby reducing the technical burden on network participants. These sequential upgrades have been instrumental in lowering the fee structures that once hindered the network’s growth.
Impact
The technical improvements and lowering of barriers to entry have had a measurable impact on developer activity and network utility. According to industry data, Ethereum has increasingly become the preferred settlement layer for new decentralized applications. This trend is evidenced by the number of new smart contracts created and published on the network, which reached an all-time high of 8.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. This surge in contract deployment serves as a leading indicator of future network activity and developer commitment to the Ethereum ecosystem despite competition from other blockchain protocols.
Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has articulated a long-term vision for the network that emphasizes stability and independence. Speaking on the social media platform X, Buterin stated that Ethereum needs to reach a point where its primary developers can eventually walk away. He argued that building sustainable applications is not feasible on a base layer that requires constant, ongoing updates from a specific vendor to remain usable. According to this perspective, the blockchain must achieve a state where its value proposition and core features are fully integrated into the protocol, allowing it to function as a permanent and decentralized foundation for the digital economy without requiring perpetual manual intervention.
Outlook
Looking ahead to 2026, the Ethereum roadmap includes several major changes designed to further future-proof the network’s infrastructure. One of the most significant upcoming developments is the Glamsterdam fork. This specific upgrade is intended to introduce perfect parallel processing to the Ethereum network, which is expected to increase transaction bandwidth significantly. Furthermore, the Glamsterdam fork will implement a substantial increase in the network’s gas limit. Currently set at 60 million, the gas limit is scheduled to be raised to 200 million, allowing for larger blocks and greater transaction density without necessarily increasing costs for the end-user.
These forthcoming upgrades are part of a broader objective to enhance the network’s overall throughput and performance capabilities. Developers are aiming to increase Ethereum’s throughput to a target of 10,000 transactions per second. By combining parallel processing with increased blob sizes and higher gas limits, the network seeks to accommodate a massive scale of activity. These milestones are intended to ensure that the protocol can support the next generation of application development. As Ethereum continues to execute these upgrades, the focus remains on creating a resilient, high-capacity layer-1 that can maintain its position as a central hub for global blockchain activity.
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